Various games are known in the art which use a paddle-type structure. In its broadest definition, a baseball bat is a paddle in the sense that it is used to redirect the movement of a projectile, in this case a baseball. Other athletic implements, however, are more akin to paddles and are more appropriately so characterized. Squash rackets, hand ball rackets, and tennis rackets are forms of paddles. With these implements, however, the striking portion of the device comprises a meshwork of strung gut, nylon, or other appropriate material.
The athletic implement most frequently thought of as a "paddle" is the device usd in table tennis or Ping Pong. Such an implement is different than other "paddles" heretofore described in that its striking surface is solid and continuous and frequently covered with a spongy substance whereby more energy can be imparted to the Ping Pong ball when it is struck by the paddle.
All devices described to this point have as their objects, in use, to merely redirect the movement of the projectile being struck. In fact, frequently, the rules of the game preclude retention of the projectile at the surface of the implement. Other games, however, utilize apparatus designed to receive and hold the projectile impelled toward the user of the apparatus. Typical of this type of game are lacrosse and jai alai. The apparatus used in these two games are specifically designed so that the player can "catch" the ball and, thereafter, selectively redirect the motion of the ball in a direction desired. The same structure in the case of each of the lacrosse stick and the jai alai basket functions to both receive the projectile and to impel it outwardly again. Consequently, although skills are developed, the potential for maximization of skill development through use of those implements is more limited than it might be.
The invention of the present application provides a structure which affords greater flexibility in the development of manual dexterity and skills. It is designd to overcome some of the limitations hereinbefore described.